1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data relay apparatus and method, and more particularly, a data relay apparatus and method capable of transmitting contents, sender information, and receiver information to a host apparatus using a receiver's telephone number and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the host apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communication terminals can be connected to digital televisions (DTVs) by communication units, such as Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394, and Bluetooth, and can record, store, and play back digital contents (hereinafter, referred to as “contents”). The contents include all kinds of information that can be displayed under the control of a user, such as moving pictures, sound/music/voice, and photographs. The mobile communication terminals may include personal digital assistants (PDAs), personal communication systems (PCSs), mobile phones, camcorders, personal video recorders (PVRs), digital cameras, and MP3 players. When a sender makes a phone call to a receiver, or transmits a text message thereto, the mobile communication terminal enables a sender's telephone number or the text message to be displayed on a TV screen.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a process of transmitting a text message and displaying the text message on a TV screen through a cellular phone according to the related art.
A sender uses a cellular phone to make a phone call or to transmit a text message to a receiver (S11).
Then, the receiver who is watching TV receives information on the phone call or the text message through a cellular phone, and signals corresponding to information on the phone call or the text message are displayed on the TV screen through an interactive data communication technique (S21). The signals may be translucently displayed on a portion of the TV screen in an on-screen display (OSD) format.
When a notification indicating that the phone call is received is displayed on the TV screen, the receiver recognizes that the cellular phone has received the phone call, and can speak to the sender over the cellular phone.
If a test message notification indicating that a text message is received is displayed on the TV screen, the receiver pushes a message confirm button on a remote controller to enlarge the text message on the TV screen and checks the content of the text message (S31). The TV transmits a signal indicating that the receiver has confirmed the message to the cellular phone of the receiver, such that the cellular phone of the receiver cannot notify the receiver of the reception of the text message in the form of an notification sound or vibration.
However, when the cellular phone is turned off or the receiver does not have the cellular phone, the above-mentioned functions cannot be performed since signals for the phone call or the text message received from the cellular phone of the receiver are displayed on the TV screen. In addition, only the text message is displayed on the TV screen.